12.21.2015

Sometimes racism has perfect timing

This is sadly unsurprising in every way. A Sikh man was giving a TV interview on the street, talking about the racism he had experienced, when someone driving by in a passing car yelled "Fuck you, terrorist!"

Darsh Preet Singh has made headlines as the first turbaned Sikh American to play basketball in the NCAA, facing a considerable degree of ignorance, bigotry and discrimination along the way -- including a racist meme that recently went viral, putting him in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Singh, who was born and raised in Texas, was in the middle of an interview with NBC 5 in Dallas, standing out on the street and sharing about his experiences, when someone yelled at him from a passing car:

Darsh Preet Singh was in the midst of a TV interview about the racism he experienced, when someone drove by and yelled hate speech -- "F*** you, terrorist!" Instead of responding with anger or fear, Darsh repeated his message, that draws from the core of the Sikh tradition: "It's extremely important to understand that love and compassion are the most powerful forces in the world, and if we can embody those, we can move past some of the challenges that are dividing us."#BeLikeDarsh This video is edited from a longer NBC news video. Full video here: http://bit.ly/1YrTaPh

You couldn't have time that more perfectly. I suppose nothing really illustrates the kind of shitty ignorance Darsh has had to deal with than when it happens exactly when he's talking about it, cameras rolling.

You have to hand it to Darsh, who keeps his cool and responds with a message from the core of his Sikh faith.

"It's extremely important to understand that love and compassion are the most powerful forces in the world," Darsh says, "and if we can embody those, we can move past some of the challenges that are dividing us."